Time Squad
Time Squad is an American children's animated television series created by Dave Wasson for Cartoon Network, and the 10th of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. It follows the adventures of Otto Osworth, Buck Tuddrussel, and the robot Larry 3000, a trio of hapless "time cops" living in the far distant future who travel back in time attempting to correct the course of history. During their adventures, they run into major historical figures such as Julius Caesar,Abraham Lincoln, Sigmund Freud, Leonardo da Vinci, the Founding Fathers, and Montezuma, who have taken a drastically different course of life than history dictates. The mission of the Time Squad is to guide these figures onto the correct path and ensure the integrity of the future. The series premiered during Cartoon Network's marathon block "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" on June 8, 2001, and ended after two seasons on November 26, 2003, airing 26 episodes in total. In the course of its run, the series received fiveAnnie Award nominations. Creator Dave Wasson described the series as "a C-student's guide to history".1 It is also the final Cartoon Network original series to premiere during Betty Cohen's tenure, as she later resigned due to creative disagreements with Jamie Kellner, then-head of Turner Broadcasting System. The series' music was provided by Michael Tavera, who also composed music for ¡Mucha Lucha!. Overview The show is set in the year 100,000,000 AD, on a satellite which orbits Earth. This future Earth is never visited directly, though it is referred in dialogue as a peaceful utopia where there are no longer any problems to solve. All nations of the world have merged into one, and according to Tuddrussel, there are "no wars, no pollution, and baconis good for your heart". Despite this cheerful vision of the future, the space station on which the characters live and from which they travel to the past is remarkably dystopic. It features a shooting range, a terrarium and a prison for repeat offenders, but it is dank, outdated (for the time) and unclean. Mostly this seems to be down to officer Buck Tuddrussel (Rob Paulsen), a scruffy and immature perennial bachelor, who nevertheless happens to be the station's most senior officer. The only other official member of Buck's unit is Larry 3000 (Mark Hamill), a translator robot and former diplomat who was rendered more or less obsolete when all of the world's nations merged. Buck's mindless machismo clashes with Larry's effete sensibilities, and the two bicker terribly. Added to this the fact that neither of them has any great knowledge of history, they made a rather poor team together. However, when they encounter Otto Osworth (Pamela Adlon), an 8-year-old boy who happens to be an orphan from the 21st century, he is quickly recruited and added to the team. Otto is shown to be the only one on the team with any enthusiasm or competence for the job. The problem is, neither of the other two are particularly willing to listen to his advice, and he must often resort to trickery to make sure the mission is completed. The Time Squad organization is set up to ensure that history is maintained and the future protected.2 According to Larry 3000, "time is like a rope", and, as it is woven at one end, ages and gradually unravels and frays at the other. In the context of the show, this often means that historical figures have made different, sometimes anachronistic, choices in life (see free will), and as such will not be able to fulfill the role that history says they fulfilled (an example of this Henry Ford didn't invent the automobile assembly line due to constant hostility of the dodo birds that never became extinct). According to creator Dave Wasson, "We started by basically knowing what a guy did in history, then found the most outlandish way he could go wrong". Characters Main: Time Squad * Otto Osworth (voiced by Pamela Adlon): An orphan illegally traveling along with Tuddrussel and Larry, taken on board due to their incompetence and his impressive historical knowledge (and for Otto to escape his brutal life at the orphanage). Despite being a bookworm, his demeanor is far from boring; he is just as childlike and jocular as any regular eight-year-old. Even though he is the youngest, he is also the most responsible out of the squad, being the only one pure enough to not let himself get swayed by temptations. Depending on who he's siding with, he can either become loud and destructive (when Tuddrussel has him company) or composed and calm (when it's Larry he agrees with). It's unknown what happened to Otto's parents. * Lawrence "Larry" 3000 (voiced by Mark Hamill): A grumpy robot and the only one on board able to operate the computer. It's his job to make sure the squad ends up at the right time and place. Initially, he was programmed as a polyglotic robot for diplomatic purposes; when all of the nations rejoiced into one, huge country, his consular abilities were no longer needed. Larry is famous for his effeminate behaviour and interests, which are portrayed all but subtly. Unusually, he is extremely dramatic and open in showing his emotions whilst still being the snarkiest of the trio. He prides himself in having knowledge of proper etiquette and manners. For Otto, he has been repeatedly depicted as a maternal figure. * Beauregard "Buck" Tuddrussel (voiced by Rob Paulsen): An immature time cop, who possesses all the physical requirements for his job and none the intellectual. Whenever there's someone who needs a beating up (and even when they don't), he's the best person to get assigned for such a task. Impulsiveness, aggressiveness and air-headedness are traits which define Tuddrussel quite nicely. Not much of his backstory is known, aside from his Southern heritage and a short-lived marriage to fellow time cop Sheila Sternwell. Recurring * Sheila Sternwell Tudrussel (voiced by Mari Weiss): A lieutenant within Time Squad ranks, Sheila is a no-nonsense woman that takes her job seriously. The ex-wife of Tuddrussel, it's made clear that while she regrets making the mistake of marrying him in the first place, and can be slightly bitter towards him, she doesn't actually resent him and still does her job and helps out Tuddrussel and his unit when needed. She even seems to go far in not ratting out Tuddrussel and Larry over Otto, and other screw ups that she should be reporting. * XJ5 (voiced by Daran Norris): An advanced robot that is more qualified for the job of a time cop than Larry, and he loves to rub it in. Working with Officer Sternwell, he provides actual help and guidance on missions. * J.T. Laser (voiced by Jim Wise): Professional and competent, he is the best of the best of what Time Squad has to offer; but he is also an arrogant jerk that gladly makes trouble for Tuddrussel and Larry. * Lance Nine Trillion (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson): The best officer in Time Squad needs to have the robot with the most advanced technology right? Lance is the perfect partner for J.T. * Sister Thornley (voiced by Dee Dee Rescher): Otto's former caretaker and nasty nun of the show before getting taken by Larry and Tuddrussel. Otto had good reason to fear her, as did the other kids that she kept. Obviously not afraid of the police or anyone coming after her, Sister Thornley freely abuses the kids that are put into her care, while at the orphanage and even more disturbingly in public. Her motives are despairingly questionable, such making the children work under horrific conditions in order to make a quick buck, or why she had a problem with Otto reading books (or any child reading, for that matter. She apparently had an entire policy against it). At the end, Larry and Tuddrussel takes Otto back with them much to her dismay, but her dismay turns to joy when she finds another genius child she could abuse. Historical figures * Abraham Lincoln * Al Capone * Albert Einstein * Alfred Nobel * Amelia Earhart * Annie Oakley * Antonio López * Attila the Hun * Benjamin Franklin * Benjamin Harrison * Betsy Ross * Billy the Kid * Black Bart * Buffalo Bill * Cavemen * Christopher Columbus * Cleopatra * Clint Eastwood * Confucius * David Livingstone * Davy Crockett * Devil Anse Hatfield * Edgar Allan Poe * Edward II * Edward Teach * Eli Whitney * Elizabeth I * Franklin D. Roosevelt * G. Washington Carver * George S. Patton * George W. Bush * George Washington * Genghis Khan * Grigori Rasputin * Harry Houdini * Hernando de Soto * Henry Morton Stanley * Isaac Newton * Ivan the Terrible * Jack the Ripper * James Buchanan * James Sherman * Joan of Arc * Johannes Gutenberg * John Adams * John Hancock * John Montagu * Joseph Stalin * Josephine Bonaparte * Julius Caesar * King of Troy * Kublai Khan * Lady Godiva * Leonardo da Vinci * Lizzie Borden * Louis Armstrong * Louis Pasteur * Ludwig van Beethoven * Mahatma Gandhi * Marie Curie * Meriwether Lewis * Montezuma * Napoleon Bonaparte * Nicolaus Copernicus * Nostradamus * Paul Revere * Philander Knox * Randolph McCoy * Samuel Adams * Samuel Morse * Sergio Leone * Sigmund Freud * Sinon * Sitting Bull * Socrates * Tex Avery * Thomas Jefferson * William Clark * William Howard Taft * William Shakespeare * Winston Churchill * Woodrow Wilson * Wright brothers * Zachary Taylor Voice cast Main * Pamela Adlon – Otto Osworth * Mark Hamill – Larry 3000, Nicolaus Copernicus, Police Commish & Black Bart * Rob Paulsen – Buck Tuddrussel, Fat Kid & John Adams * Mari Weiss – Sheila Sternwell * Daran Norris – XJ5, Samuel Adams, Sinon, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, Louis Pasteur, Davy Crockett, Master of ceremonies, Philander Knox/Vampire, Jack the Ripper & William Shakespeare * Dee Dee Rescher – Sister Thornley * Kevin Michael Richardson – Lance Nine Trillion, Time Squad Officer, George Washington Carver, Todd Washington Carver, George Washington, & George S. Patton * Jim Wise – J.T. Laser Historical figures and special guests * Bernard Fox – Henry Morton Stanley * Bob Joles – Ludwig van Beethoven, Benjamin Franklin & Orville Wright * Brian Hamilton – Nostradamus * Candi Milo – Dexter * Carlos Alazraqui – Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mahatma Gandhi * Carlos Ramos – Napoleon Bonaparte * Danny Mann – Albert Einstein & Harry Houdini * Dee Bradley Baker – Austrian General * Earl Boen – William Howard Taft/Frankenstein * Frank Welker – James Sherman/Zombie * Glenn Shadix – King of Troy * Gregg Berger - Meriwether Lewis, William Clark & Genghis Khan * Grey DeLisle – Marie Curie, Lizzie Borden & Joan of Arc * James Sie – Confucius * Jeff Bennett – Townsperson Leader, Jeremiah Tuddrussel & Johannes Gutenberg * Jennifer Hale – Josephine Bonaparte * Jess Harnell – Attila the Hun * Jim Meskimen – George W. Bush * Jim Ward – Paul Revere * Joe Alaskey – Robin Hood, Wilbur Wright & Samuel Morse * Joe Lala – Leonardo da Vinci * John Kassir – Thomas Jefferson, Alfred Nobel & Grigori Rasputin * Jon Polito – Al Capone * Kath Soucie – Little Girl, Wife, & Old Lady * Marshall Efron – John Montagu / The Earl of Sandwich * Maurice LaMarche – Julius Caesar * Michael J. Gough – David Livingstone & George Washington * Nika Futterman – Betsy Ross * Patrick Fraley – Kublai Khan * Patti Deutsch – Amelia Earhart * Paul Greenberg – Edgar Allan Poe * Rodger Bumpass – Socrates * Roger Rose – Edward Teach / Blackbeard & John Hancock * Tom Kenny – Sigmund Freud, Eli Whitney, Abraham Lincoln & Montezuma * Vanessa Marshall – Cleopatra Episodes Season 1 (2001–02) Season 2 (2002–03) Timeline and world history * Dinosaur Era * Stone Age * 1200 BC, Troy, Asia Minor * 551 BC, China * 399 BC, Greece * 51 BC, Egypt * 46 BC, Rome * 438 AD, The Far East * 1156 AD, Sherwood Forest, England * 1210, Mongolia * 1323, Medieval England * 1430, France * 1450, Germany * 1500, Florence, Italy * 1502, Mexico-Tenochtitlan * C. 1520, Poland * 1537, Atlantic Ocean * 1547, Moscow, Russia * 1605, Stratford von-Avon, Warwickshire * 1717, Atlantic Ocean * 1719, The Caribbean * 1762, London, Great Britain * 1773, Boston, Massachusetts * 1775, Boston, Massachusetts * 1776, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * 1778, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * 1783, Savannah, Georgia * 1797, Paris * 1803, Vienna, Austria * 1804, The Louisiana Purchase * 1836, San Antonio, Texas * 1836, Washington, D.C. * 1845, Baltimore, Maryland * 1863, Washington, D.C. * 1864, Stockholm, Sweden * 1866, Kansas City, Kansas * 1871, Africa * 1876, Great Plains * 1876, West Virginia * 1877, The Old West * 1888, Paris, France * 1895, New York City * 1899, Vienna, Austria * 1903, Dayton, Ohio * 1911, Washington, D.C. * 1915, Tuskegee, Alabama * 1925, Chicago, Illinois * 1930, Los Angeles, California * 1941, Great Britain * 1942, Washington, D.C. * 1945, Texas * 2001, Present day * 2002, Washington, D.C. * 3000 AD, Fly City * 100,000,000, Far Future Merchandise Home media releases Time Squad has not received any official DVD releases. However, the episode "Dishonest Abe" is featured in the''Powerpuff Girls'' VHS Meet the Beat-Alls. Promotions Cartoon Network and Subway partnered to release five Time Squad-themed toys in Subway Kids Paks. The promotion lasted from September 30 to November 17, 2002.6 Video games Though the series has no official video games, the character Larry-3000 appears in the Cartoon Network game''Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall''.